he perishing body of his major, and when morning came he was found
dead with five of his men, while around them, stiffly frozen, lay the
bodies of six hundred mules.

The brave and heroic heart was stilled for ever, a young and noble
life was lost in performing an act of rare self-sacrifice; but far
away in "bonnie Scotland" a widowed mother, smiling bravely through
her tears, thanked God for the privilege of cherishing _such_ a
memory.

Small wonder to us then, when tragedies such as this were brought home
to us, that in the camps the thin tents, torn to ribbons by the
storm, afforded no protection to the scantily-clothed, half-famished
inmates!

That the death-rate was not higher during the winter months we owe
entirely to the overcrowding of the tents, there being in Hansie's
ward at Irene many bell-tents, destined to accommodate six, holding
from sixteen to twenty-three persons for many months. But what was an
advantage during the winter months became a source of great danger
when the heat of summer came.

To return to our story.

It was Hansie's privilege--yes, privilege--to act as one of the
volunteer nurses from Pretoria during that very winter of 1901, and
though it is not my intention to record in this book the experience
connected with that period, I do not think it will be out of place
here to mention an important result of that sojourn at Irene.

Mrs. van Warmelo visited her daughter in the camp for the first time
on May 21st, and she was so much impressed by the misery she had
witnessed that, on her return to Pretoria that night, she could not
sleep, but tossed from side to side, thinking of some way to save her
country-women from suffering and death.

Suddenly she was inspired by the thought, "Write a petition to the
Consuls!"

It was 3 a.m. when she got out of bed to fetch her writing-materials
from the dining-room, and she then and there wrote a passionate appeal
for help to the Diplomatic Corps in Pretoria.

The Consul-General for the Netherlands, Mr. Domela Nieuwenhuis, to
whom she took the petition the following morning, advised her to lay
it before the Portuguese Consul, Mr. Cinatti, who, as the doyen of the
Diplomatic Corps, would bring the matter before the other Consuls, if
he thought it advisable.

Mr. Cinatti, after reading the petition, said the matter could
certainly be taken up if Mrs. van Warmelo would get a few leading
women in Pretoria to sign the petition.

This was done w